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Saturday, March 12, 2016

POW-MIA Traditional Bible Removed from Akron VA

Seems really odd that a tradition that goes back decades suddenly offends a few and is removed while the multitudes finding comfort in the remembrance were forgotten about in a POW-MIA remembrance display.

Bible removed from Akron Veterans Affairs display causes uproarBy Amanda GarrettBeacon Journal staff writerMarch 11, 2016A small dining table in Akron set up to remember soldiers who never came home — those missing in action or taken prisoner during war — has set off a large national battle over religious symbols in government spaces.

Everything on the POW-MIA table, a tradition since the Vietnam War, is a symbol: The white tablecloth represents the purity of the soldiers’ duty. Salt on a bread plate represents tears shed by soldiers’ families. A Bible has represented faith.But not all POW-MIAs are Christian.And when a local soldier, permanently disabled in Afghanistan, saw a red New Testament Bible on a POW-MIA table in the lobby of the Akron Veterans Affairs health care facility last month, he was troubled.“I know for a fact that all POW-MIAs were not Christian because my grandfather was MIA from World War II and he was Jewish,” the disabled soldier said this week during an interview.
He reached out to a nonprofit that fights for the religious rights of the U.S. armed forces, which in turn contacted the administrator of the Akron VA.Within days, the Bible was gone.read more here

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Crisis Phone Numbers

Vietnam Veterans of AmericaCrisis Phone Numberspecial noticeIf you are a veteran in emotional crisis and need help RIGHT NOW, call this toll-free number 1-800-273-8255, available 24/7, and tell them you are a veteran. All calls are confidential.http://www.vva.org/

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